Tokyo's Nerima Ward is called the birthplace of the nation's anime industry. Located in the ward, home to more than 100 animation-related companies, is the Toei Animation Museum, where visitors can learn about anime history and behind-the-scenes anime-related activities while enjoying Toei Animation Co. works and related materials.
The museum is located in a studio run by the Nakano Ward, Tokyo-based animation company.
The exhibits' centerpiece is a large touch display monitor measuring 1.54 meters by 4.32 meters. The display monitor shows images of about 460 anime episodes produced from the 1950s to the present.
When a visitor touches the screen, opening and ending images from selected anime episodes, along with descriptions of each episode.
Visitors will find that time flies feeling nostalgic while listening to the theme songs of the yokai anime "GeGeGe no Kitaro," shown in black and white as it was when it started airing, or "Slam Dunk," an anime featuring a high school basketball club popular with both men and women.
Yoshie Kikuchi, 35, of Wako, Saitama Prefecture, was visiting the museum with her family. She said with a smile that, although she came to the museum to let her 3-year-old daughter Ema play there, she herself was enjoying the place.
Ema looked happy, as she had a photo taken of herself with a life-size cardboard version of "PreCure," a character in the popular anime series "Futari wa PreCure" (Pretty Cure). "Kawaii" (cute), Ema said delightfully.
I learned at the museum that an anime series episode, which usually runs for about 30 minutes, requires 100 people and three months to be produced. Anime series episodes can air every week thanks to the combined efforts of several production teams working on the same story.
Production sheets and original drawings for about 40 episodes including of "One Piece," an anime popular among young people, are also on display. Exhibits of items that show the hidden side of anime production are other reasons the museum enjoys popularity.
There are many things that would please anime fans in the museum's garden, too.
A blackboard with a variety of chalks allows visitors to freely draw pictures. A "dragon ball," an item that appears in the adventure anime "Dragon Ball," can be found twinkling behind the top of a tree.
"Many more anime characters are hidden in this museum. Do you think you can spot all of them?" Kaoru Tsuchida, 59, a museum employee in charge of the facility, said with a smile.
Receiving many repeat family visitors, the museum is now a local recreational spot attracting about 700 people each weekend.
Since it plans to increase the variety of exhibits, the museum is sure to continue to garner attention in this town of anime.
-- Toei Animation Museum
The Toei Animation Gallery, the predecessor of the Toei Animation Museum, opened in March 2003. In July 2018, it expanded into a museum with more hands-on exhibits. There is a section where visitors can play with anime-related stuffed toys and other playthings, as well as look at a variety of books on the subject of anime. An about 15-minute walk from Oizumi Gakuen Station on the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line.
Address: 2-10-5 Higashi-Oizumi, Nerima Ward, Tokyo
Open: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed on Wednesdays and irregular holidays)
Admission: Free
Information: (03) 5905-5115
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